3 Bedrooms North of Wilshire -- 2004 Rollback

Address: 1049 16th #4 - 90403

Details: 3 bed/2.5 bath 1,514 sq ft townhouse, "remodeled", 1978 building, $300/month HOA

Description: Beautiful 3 bdr townhome N of Wilshire close to all the “good stuff” SM has to offer. Remodeled bths w/ marble & Granite & SS in kitch. Gleaming wd flrs, plnt shutters, fpl & ample rec lighting. Very bright Mstr & gst rm both w/ lovely treetop views. Huge patio off kitch w/ xtra storage & good sun. A 200 sf bonus rm not incl in sq ftg & direct axs grg plus, lrg secured storage rm. Roof, plumbing, termite all done in the past few yrs. On a quieter tree lined St in Franklin & Lincoln school dist

Previous Purchase: 4/19/05 - $878,000

Listing History: 4/6/09 - $857,000

SOLD: 6/22/09 - $857,000

First off, congrats to the seller and their agent. Very rational pricing and no dicking around got them a closed deal at list price with the property only active on the market for 18 days. Other joker sellers out there, take note.

Second, this appears to be a pretty nice townhouse with many positive attributes. North of Wilshire, Franklin district, 3 bedrooms, remodeled kitchen and baths, direct parking, good street (not great though because very close to Lincoln). I don't know when the upgrades were done, so bear in mind that if they were done after the 2005 purchase, the rollback is deeper. Either way, this is in 2004 range for what appears to be a fairly nice unit in a fairly decent location.

720 17th -- $1.4mm? *Update 1*

We last featured 720 17th back in April when it went "looking for backup" and was asking $1,399,000.

It was originally asking $1,799,000 and cut down to $1,399,000

SOLD: 6/26/09 - $1,400,000

As I said last time, location discounts are applicable as this is close to Montana, on 17th which is busier, and is near the proposed senior living center on the corner of 17th and Montana.

25th Street Auction Date Rapidly Approaching *Update 1*

Quick update to the last post just a few days ago.

The house on the corner of 25th and Idaho previously had an auction date of 6/22/09.

It appears that it has been pushed back to 7/30/09. The auction date for the condo at 805 25th is still listed as 6/22/09.

I want to keep an eye on these two properties and use them as an index of sorts. I want to see how long it takes for these properties to actually go through the whole foreclosure process. I would appreciate it if anyone with any info or access to more data would either comment here or e-mail me.

How About Some Pre-Foreclosures? Part 1

The last time that I mentioned 2320 Idaho was back in October 2007 when I was doing a "rent vs. buy" comparison.

Since then, this property has been listed multiple times, and the asking price has stayed at a delusionally high level. It is so far from having a chance of selling that I really haven't payed much attention. But now it fits right in with the distress theme thanks to some more RealtyTrac searching.

To refresh, this is a flip attempt 4 bed/3 bath 2,080 sq ft house on a 4,743 sq ft lot. The house was purchased in 2006 by the flippers and was repainted and the interior redone. The problem is that the location isn't ideal (lots of Franklin traffic/noise), you are on the end of the alley, and the lot is really tiny...don't take my word for it though. Go check it out (if they are still wasting time doing open houses) and ask yourself who in their right mind would pay almost $2mm for this thing.

Previous Purchase: 4/4/06 - $1,335,000

Listing History: March 2007 - $2,400,000

Re-listed: some time in later 2007 - $2,195,000

Re-listed: at least several more times over the next year+ at around $2mm

Current Listing: 1/23/09 - $1,995,000
Reduced: 06/06/09 - to $1,895,000

So here we are with a still wildly overpriced, flawed flip attempt which has been on and off the market since Early 2007...so over 2 years now.

I will now present the hypothesis that instead of just being highly delusional, the sellers (like many others currently) can't afford to mark to market and actually sell. While property taxes appear current right now, they were in default (and then cured) for 2008.

More importantly, RealtyTrac shows this property as a "pre-foreclosure" as of 4/14/09. If I am correct, this would mean that the owners have received their notice of default and we are on the road to possible eventual auction and then REO.

Finally, I am curious to hear from some of our realtor readers. Do you guys even spend/waste any time showing clients properties such as these? Is this property known in the real estate agent world as being hopeless? Is it a "red flag" to you guys just as the "granite/stainless/upgrade" properties are "reg flag" properties to many bubble followers? Surely the info I have posted here is common knowledge amongst those in the biz right?

Bailing Developers = 2005 Rollback *Update 1*

We last featured 819 Pier back in October 2008.

Remember, this is a short sale attempt and the property is basically a shack on a 4,718 sq ft lot with a "tentative parcel map to build 3 units".

Previous Purchase: 3/2/05 - $711,000

Listing History: 4/25/08 - $1,085,000
Reduced: 06/04/08 - to $995,000
Reduced: 07/16/08 - to $949,000
Reduced: 09/11/08 - to $895,000
Reduced: 09/19/08 - to $849,000
Reduced: 10/15/08 - to $749,000
Reduced: 10/28/08 - to $695,000
Reduced: 11/14/08 - to $645,000
Reduced: 01/06/09 - to $625,000
Reduced: 04/02/09 - to $599,000

So there have been a few more price cuts since the last time this property was featured. However, it still isn't selling...

What's more is that a quick look on RealtyTrac shows this property has an upcoming auction date of 6/26/09 and opening bid of $508,050 (although the "amount" is being shown as $595,000...maybe this is the full amount of the first lien and the lender is willing to take a bid below it?).

Once again, we see that sellers have delusional prices because they can't afford to really cut to market. It is too easy to keep finding these situations...that makes me think that there will be more foreclosure listings coming this fall. And this is still with the banks/lenders dragging their feet. There is just too much evidence to deny the fact that there will likely be a fair amount of factors weighing on and pressuring prices for a good chunk of time to come. I will be much more positive on SM real estate AFTER we go through a big chunk of REO inventory liquidation and after many more weak hands have been shaken out.

Finally, I re-read my post from last time (in late October) and thought my comments on the following were pretty spot on as those of you who follow other markets know about the very robust recovery in prices for these assets (vs. SM real estate continuing to depreciate):

Finally, I don't wish to turn this into an investment blog, but since this property deals with potential investors, we need to take a look at something which I alluded to in my last comment on my last post. If you are an investor right now looking to put capital to work, I would suggest that there are a lot of more attractive opportunities out in the world than still overpriced SM real estate. Bank debt, high yield bonds, and investment grade bonds are all trading at record wide spreads. Convertible bonds are trading at record cheap to theoretical levels. And yes, even stocks (at least some) appear to be "cheap" as you can find a plethora of names trading through tangible book value and near cash levels that have been absolutely ravaged by forced selling, margin calls, record hedge fund redemptions, record mutual fund redemptions, etc. My point here is not to argue about other asset classes. I'm just trying to say that any smart investor should be taking a hard look at where to put their scarce capital right now. I think this property needs to come down further in price to get to levels which can compete with these other asset classes, especially given the risk in developing new condos right now (vs. senior bank debt yielding in the teens for example).

"The 90402" - Part 3 *Update 2*

We first featured 324 Euclid in December 2007.

We then had our first update in October 2008.

To refresh, this is a 4,385 sq ft house built in 2002/2003 on a 7,500 sq ft lot.

Previous Purchase: 4/14/06 - $3,895,000

Listing History: 12/1/07 - $4,250,000

Re-Listed: 10/16/08 - $3,998,000

Re-Listed x2: 4/6/09 - $3,785,000
Reduced: 06/19/09 - to $3,685,000

This house has now been listed at least 3 different times, in 3 different years (07, 08, 09). This is yet another sign of a very unhealthy market. This isn't a one off example. Many sellers have been playing the re-list game.

When I last featured this house, I said the following:

If I had to guess, I would say that to get this thing to sell it will most certainly have to end up as a true rollback...which means we need at least another $100K in price cuts (and likely a lot more) for any serious interest to perk up.

Here we are into "true rollback" territory, and it still isn't selling. Why not?

Let's look at the post that I did just yesterday which showed a 2006 construction house in a good location in 90403. Just like this house, we had an April 2006 purchase date. When it sold last month, it sold at a price which was down exactly 20% from the April 2006 price.

I think that the 90402/90403 declines have been similar enough and the correlation is strong enough to make this a pretty good apples to apples comparison. In fact, you could say that the 90403 house had an advantage in that it was newer construction (2006) vs this house which is 2002/2003 (not sure exactly -- conflicting sources). Additionally, I will argue that as more time elapses, we should look for further discounts. So call it 20% now, but soon to be more.

Putting it all together, let's now lop 20% off of the Euclid house's 2006 price to find out what we might think fair value would be today.

$3.895mm - $.779mm = $3,116,000 fair value today

The longer that this seller waits to bring their asking price down, the better chance they have of ending up chasing the market down even more. By the end of this year, I think it will be hard to have a shot of getting over $3mm.

Expensive House Rollback in 90403 *Update 1*

We last featured 854 23rd back in January.

This update is late, but I figured it was worth posting. This was a nice, 2006 construction house.

Previous Purchase: 4/25/06 - $3,500,000

Listing History: 1/19/09 - $3,349,000

SOLD: 5/6/09 - $2,800,000

This is a $700,000 loss on the price alone. That is an even 20% down from the 2006 purchase price. Add in selling costs and you are at 25%...start thinking about the carrying costs for the last 3 years, taxes, etc and this really looks ugly.

$1,000/Sq Ft , One Bedroom Flip...Will A Greater Fool Appear?? *Update 4*

We last featured 911 21st #A back in March. This is a "flipped condition" one bedroom.

Previous Purchase: 10/10/06 - $599,000

Listing History: 8/10/07 - $749,000
Reduced: 9/28/07 - to $719,000

Relist History: 7/1/08 - $699,000
Reduced: 08/12/08 - to $669,000
Reduced: 11/18/08 - to $635,000

Short Sale Relist: 3/4/09 - $599,000

Reduced to $579,000

Expired: after just 27 days on market

Thanks to some help from a reader or two, I found myself once again going over to RealtyTrac to see what the deal was with this property. We have already known that the property taxes have been delinquent for over a year now, but what ever happened to the "short sale" attempt?

Auction Date: 5/26/09
Auction Amount: $479,200

So to me it looks like the "owner" (I use quotes because when you are delinquent and don't have any equity in the property you are actually a trespasser on the bank's property), tried one last time to do a last minute short sale and quickly realized it was hopeless.

The $479,200 amount listed as the auction amount is likely the first lien and given the purchase price, there was certainly at least one more lien against this (second mortgage, HELOC, etc). Also, notice that the auction date already passed. Did the property actually go to auction? I don't know. Auction dates have a funny way of being postponed and delayed...so as a normal guy without superior real estate tools I can't tell you what happened here. My guess (surprise, surprise), is that the bank took the property back at auction (or they will at a future auction), and the REO listing will be forthcoming.

**EDIT** Thanks to an e-mail just received, I can confirm that the $479,200 auction amount is the first loan (and there is a second loan of $119,800 behind it, making for 100% financing...). Also, the Notice of Default was issued in February and the Notice of Trustee Sale was issued in May. The auction date is 6/26/09 with a starting bid price of $522,150. Nobody will likely pay this and it will probably go back to the lender and be back in a few months as a REO listing.

Now, if I haven't already sounded like enough of a righteous prick in this post and others, I will risk doing so by stating that the true tragedy in this situation is that I had interaction with at least one party who seemed to really like this property and was considering bidding on it when it was on the market. But due to the fact that the "owner" was over leveraged and couldn't actually afford to sell the property at a true market value, those potential buyers of this unit (at reasonable prices) were forced to wait, wait, wait. So thanks to the bubble, insolvent "owners", and delusional lenders/banks, responsible folks with real income and down payments are forced to wait on the sidelines ever longer. I know I'm being one sided, but we've all seen enough sob stories on the news from the "homeowners", so I think it just to highlight the other side -- and this isn't a personal rant, its more of an observation which came up as I recalled the apparent sincere desire by at least one REAL buyer out there who was denied (at least temporarily) an opportunity to make a real market purchase (instead of the bubble purchases we feature on here so often).

25th Street Auction Date Rapidly Approaching

The photo to the left is 805 25th (or 805 25th #4 on Zillow), which is a 2 bed/2.5 bath condo. You can go here to see all the stats and the description.

Why am I featuring this property? Well, I went out of my routine today and decided to take a quick look at realtytrac.com to investigate a certain property (not this one, but we start here anyway).

Here is the history for this condo:

Previous Purchase: 6/25/04 - $639,000

Listing History: 8/7/08 - $899,000
Reduced at some point - to $889,000
EXPIRED: after 185 days on market

Auction Date: 6/22/09
Auction Amount: $762,000

The auction amount is materially higher than the original purchase amount so there could be negative amortization, a refinance into a larger loan post purchase, etc. Second, it is noteworthy to look at the previous sale amount to once again see how much "bubble" occurred even before 2004. On 3/13/01, this property sold for $399,000. So in a little more than 3 years, we had a gain of over 60%...that works out to annualized appreciation of over 16.5% during those three short years. Finally, in the listing disclosure, there is the following: As Is,Owner Has R.E. License

This property likely isn't worth more right now than its original 2004 price, as we have been showing multiple examples of 2004 rollbacks and even a few 2003. Additionally, this property is right on Montana so its location discount means it is more likely to be leading prices down rather than lagging. If that auction amount of $762,000 is correct, I would imagine that nobody will bid that much and that the property will go back to the bank/lender and eventually show up potentially many months down the road as a REO listing. When looking at this whole situation, you should be able to see why the owner listed it at such a delusional price and why the price was only cut a measly $10,000 before expiring. The owner literally couldn't afford to mark down to market clearing levels. I believe this is the case with a fairly significant number of properties out there...this lengthens the cycle.


The next property on 25th Street going to auction is a single family house. Since the owners haven't ever listed it (as far as I know), I am going to hold back on throwing out the address, but those of you who know the area should figure it out by looking at this photo. It is south of Montana and about a block away from the condo mentioned above.

In this case, we have a property taxes which are very delinquent and very large (10s of thousands of dollars behind).

Additionally, back when I had more tools, I remember looking at some major re-fi activity which brought loan balances up to roughly $1.9mm. This appears to be confirmed by the auction amount (below).

Previous Purchase: 11/14/01 - $950,000

Auction Date: 6/22/09
Auction Amount: $1,880,000

This house is certainly not worth anything close to $1.88mm so once again I predict that it will go back to the bank and then eventually end up as a REO listing.

I'm not sure how I feel about featuring properties like this and digging out info on the owners. On one hand, all this info is public and I'm not doing anything wrong...but on the other hand, I can't help feeling like I'm wading into territory that risks exposing too much of potentially embarassing or bitter financial failures. I have no sympathy for the speculators, but it isn't always crystal clear and easy to differentiate. However, I think examples like these should really serve as wake up calls to some of the more bullish or neutral market observers and I think they are helpful for us all to see. Let me know if you think I'm crossing a line by featuring stuff like this.

Ultimately, these examples should show us why we are nowhere near a bottom. People as well as the banks and lenders haven't found religion yet. There are way too many condo buildings filled with upside down "owners" as well as SFR "owners" barely hanging on. The lenders are slow to process their foreclosures (I'm not sure why). This all tells me we have more time to go and prices will be going lower. For the exact opposite reasons, I am actually pretty bullish on the hardest hit inland areas. When every financially weak owner and speculator has been blown out of the water and all the lenders have accepted that they are going to take huge losses and prices are down massively, that is when you get bottoms...not when everyone is hoping and praying that the market will come back "next season" so that they can get bailed out.

For this house here, look at the original purchase price. Late 2001 for $950,000. It would seem probable that we could eventually get down near these levels once again by the end of this madness. A million bucks is still a lot of money for a dumpy little house...seems people forgot that during the bubble.

Finally, take a look at yet another great Calculated Risk post from today. Jim the realtor tours some shadow foreclsoure inventory...he goes through a few high end areas as well and some of the examples show people who bought a while back and refinanced themselves into a hole...same exact thing as this house on 25th...Once again, we see Santa Monica isn't all that different after all.

By Popular Demand *Update 1*

We last featured 415 17th back in February when everyone was all worked up over the then seemingly "low" asking price.

Listing History: 12/4/08 - $2,245,000
Reduced: 02/10/09 - to $1,899,000
Reduced: ???????? - to $1,799,000

SOLD: 6/15/09 - $1,600,000


Remember, this is a 3 bed/3 bath 2,073 sq ft house on an 8,940 sq ft lot. There is likely some slight location discount because this is 17th, but this house is much further north than the very location discounted 720 17th which is very close to Montana and the proposed senior housing development on the corner of Montana and 17th. 720 17th is still "pending" with its last asking price at $1,399,000.


So here we are with a full sized lot with a minor location discount in GRS selling for $1.6mm. Prices are certainly falling...

Edit: Thought this post from Calculated Risk was pretty on topic. Seems like I'm not the only one talking about the high end lag effect. I also agree with Calculated Risk's disagreement with respect to high end % decline vs. low end % decline.

Unhealthy Market Signs

Address: 838 16th #5 - 90403

Details: 2 bed/2.5 bath 1,576 sq ft townhouse, 2006 construction, $325/month HOA

Description: This tuscan inspired townhouse has a very attractive courtyard entry. High ceilings, hardwood floors, fireplace add to the charm of the lr/. Dining area leading to patio with waterfall. Gourmet kitchen has granite counters, viking appliances, large window + brkfst counter. 2nd floor has beautiful master suite with high ceil + balcony, 2nd bedroom & full bath. Lg loft with built-ins leads to pvt deck. New surround sound + integrated remote. Direct entry to private garage. Definitely turnkey.

Previous Purchase: 5/24/07 - $1,385,000

In a comment made all the way back in January 2008, allsouledout said the following:

838 16th St. - 2 units, ,each priced around $1.4mm, one on mkt since 7/07, other since 10/07, both with a less than 3% price reduction to date ...

Remember, that was back in early 2008. I don't know if this unit (#5) has been listed before or not, but here is the current listing history:

Listing History: 4/9/09 - $1,219,000

The current asking price is probably equivalent to a 2005 rollback or so but I think they will likely need to go lower to produce a sale. Going back to allsouledout's comment, I don't see any sales taking place in this building post January 2008. So if this unit (#5) was previously listed and was one of the units mentioned by allsouledout, then that means there is at least another unit that wants to sell (unit #7 perhaps?). If this was not part of the two mentioned, then we know there are at least two more units behind this one that may wish to sell. With 2005 construction and most of the original sales for these units taking place in 2006, we have yet another "entire building underwater".

As a potential buyer I would view this as very unhealthy. There are clearly more potential sellers in the building, and with the rollback train continuing into deeper years back, I would have to wonder if some distress sales may eventually come to fruition.

What Is This Thing? *Update 1*

We last featured 2009 Montana back in April. This is a newly constructed, "green", 5 bedroom house.

(lot) Purchase: 10/6/06 - $969,500

Listing History: 3/4/09 - $2,798,000
Reduced: 04/01/09 - to $2,598,000
Reduced: 05/02/09 - to $2,498,000

Looks like another price cut is already overdue.

Finally They Get It -- Advertise Your 2004 Rollback

Address: 2306 6th Street #SST - 90405

Details: 2 bed/2 bath 1,081 sq ft condo, 1963 building, $380 HOA dues, granite, etc.

Description: UNIQUE RETRO CONTEMPORARY IN OCEAN PARK - SIMMA WOOD & SLATE FLOORS - POLISHED CONCRETE FIREPLACE - KITCHEN + BATHROOMS WITH MAPLE CABINETRY - POLISHED GRANITE COUNTERS + BRUSHED ALUMINUM BACK SPLASH - SECLUDED FRONT YARD ENTRY + 2 PARKING SPACES (1 GARAGE+1 CARPORT) EASY ACCESS TO MAIN ST. AND THE BEACH. Close to chic shops, restaurants and cafe's. Priced to sell under 2004 values.

Previous Purchase: 8/18/04 - $660,000

Listing History: 2/25/09 - $624,999

SOLD: 6/10/09 - $609,000

Here we've got what looks like yet another deep 2004 rollback which may actually be into 2003 territory (just as we had in our last post before this).

What I like to see however is that the agent is actually advertising the rollback in the listing description. The initial listing price was pretty close to market value and they sold this thing pretty quickly (only on market for 24 days). I have to say good job to the seller and agent.

As we saw in the last post, inconvenient truths such as these 2003 rollbacks may elicit comments regarding parking space costs in Boston, "don't forget the interest rate deduction", etc. I would advise readers keep their eyes on the ball while ignoring the noise. The market is obviously not done declining. And even here with this 2003 rollback, we have a definite price leader, but I don't think the decline is over for this property.

One main reason would be that it sold for $350,000 on 11/10/99. I don't mean to suggest that we are going back to 1999 prices (especially on a nominal basis), however, I would like to highlight this data point and suggest that there was already a very large, artificial amount of appreciation in the 2004 market prices across the board. Bubbles retrace their artificial gains -- this has been seen over and over across history and across many different asset classes.

Near 2004 Rollback Pricing *Update 1*

We last featured 449 Euclid back in March.

Details: 3 bed/2.5 bath 2,968 sq ft house, 7,500 sq ft lot, "remodeled"

Previous Purchase: 12/15/04 - $2,200,000

Listing History: 3/13/09 - $2,295,000

SOLD: 6/9/09 - $2,000,000

So this isn't just a "near 2004 rollback"...its well into (or even beyond) a 2004 rollback.

In my last post, dwr said:

This is off topic, but check out 449 Euclid, just sold for $2.0MM, was listed for $2.295MM. 3000 SF, and a very nice house. That's probably down 30% from peak value.

Marina Del Rey - A Whole Building Underwater *Update 2*

We last featured 13700 Marina Pointe Drive #304 - 90292 back in January.

Previous Purchase: 9/7/06 - $840,000

Bank "Buyback": 5/6/08 - $748,161

Listing History: 5/24/08 - $694,900
Reduced: 07/28/08 - to $689,900
Reduced: 08/29/08 - to $675,000
Reduced: 10/16/08 - to $640,000
Reduced: 11/29/08 - to $599,900
Reduced: 12/24/08 - to $549,900

SOLD: 6/2/09 - $499,000 (40.6% off 2006 price)

Too Expensive *Update 2*

We last featured 1126 Harvard in March in this post here. See the last post for more info.

Previous Purchase: 8/24/02 - $1,041,000

Listing History: 1/26/09 - $1,645,000
Reduced: 03/19/09 - to $1,495,000

SOLD: 6/3/09 - $1,410,000


Even though it took 112 days on market to get this thing into escrow, we have to say "good job" to the seller for getting real and accepting a bid. In the last post which this house was featured, we also featured 1063 Harvard. 1063 appears to have "expired" as they simply couldn't find the will to get real.

Coming back to 1126, as I said last time, I don't think there were any major upgrades on this house from the 2002 purchase. Westside Bubble's latest post talks about where we would be at 2003 levels for 90402...looking at this property here, you can get a feel for what things were like in 2002 in this part of 90403. I think there is still a good amount of nominal downside left here, and I think weakness will show up again as we head out of the seasonally strong buying period and as mortgage rates rise materially above the lows recently seen.

How Come No One Is Mentioning...Part 2

Address: 1421 Grant - 90405

Details: 4 bed/2.75 bath 1,956 sq ft house, 6,192 sq ft lot, "totally updated & remodeled

Description: Totally updated & remodeled 4 BR, 3 BA, home in Sunset Park. Traditional , open floor plan house has great attention to detail encompassing stunning hrdwd flrs, grnt kitchen w/ large island, spacious family & living rooms, 2 gorgeous fireplaces, 2-car d’tchd & finished garage w/slate flrs, & lrg bck & frnt yards which are great for entertaining or relaxing. New: sauna, patio deck, windows, copper plumbing, electrical & more. Located on a beautiful tree lined cul-de-sac.

Previous Purchase: 9/19/05 - $1,175,000

Listing History: 3/11/09 - $1,299,000

SOLD: 5/15/09 - $1,225,000

The "how come no one is mentioning" series has been inspired by several comments from an anonymous reader on this post a little while back.

The first part in this series can be found here.

Today, in our second part, I have decided to give 90405 some love because I don't feature it as much, and because there seem to be few real SFR sales going on...and even fewer good data points out of those sales.

To spare you my broken record analysis and reasoning, we will get right to it. This house sold relatively quickly (29 DOM) and at a price which is slightly above its late 2005 price. Is this a bullish data point? Has WarChest been hiding all of these types of data points in an attempt to paint a decidedly more bearish picture than is really appropriate?

My answer to both is "no". First, this house was "totally updated & remodeled". To be totally transparent, I do not know when the upgrades were done, but my suspicion is that they may have been done after the 2005 purchase. If I am correct, then this is not a late 2005/early 2006 rollback as it would first appear...it would mean we are closer to 2004. If anyone knows anything about the date(s) of the upgrade, please let us know. Second, as always, remember that even in prolonged bear markets, higher quality properties which are actually priced at or near a "clearing" level will tend to sell, so you can't get too excited about single data points -- that goes for both bull and bear camps.

Finally, I think you have to take a step back and ask what a 4 bedroom, 2,000 sq ft "redone" house would have gone for 2 years ago...the decline here is substantial. You have to be careful when looking at "analysis" or data points when anonymous people on the internet are providing the info. As always, I try my best to present the truth.

More 90402 Data

Address: 716 18th - 90402

Details: 3 bed/2 bath 1,706 sq ft house, 8,938 sq ft lot, "needs some TLC"

Description: This original 3BD/2BA/den home on a true Gillettes Regent Square lot, is on the Westside on the desirable Palm Tree St. LR & wood FP, formal DR, mostly hardwood floors complete the house. The large yard has room for pool or putting green. The 2-car is garage detached. The house needs some TLC. Close to Montana Ave.

Listing History: 3/4/09 - $1,875,000

SOLD: 5/29/09 - $1,780,000 (long escrow, MLS shows it was only active for 9 days)

This location is fine (no discounts that I can think of), this is a full lot size, and you might even be able to live in this (I don't know how much TLC is needed).

Make of this what you will...I don't know how close to "lot value" this should be considered so if you saw the house please chime in.

This seller did a very good job of pricing appropriately and being realistic (they accepted an offer quickly, despite it being $100k below their freshly listed price 9 days earlier). These examples are good to see and are healthier for the market as a whole.